Facebook Gaffes...in public

Can we believe these are real?

Objective Reporting, NYT-style

I had to do a double-take at the cover story in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine and its matter-of-fact subhead referring to Joe Biden as a “sage on foreign policy.” So sage that he was one of the key Senate supporters/enablers of one of the most forseeably unwise foreign policy adventures in recent history: Iraq. In fairness to Biden, he was no less “sage” about Iraq in 2002-2003 than the New York Times front page.

Journalists who want to do startups

Hat tip to Meg for her helpful post on journalism entrepreneurs. Meg links to a blogpost by a London-based multimedia journalist offering a checklist for journalists who want to start their own outlet or website.

Fox News Declares War...

...on left or liberal websites using video clips of its channel. But not conservative sites using Fox News clips.

Digital Divides in the U.S.

My middle-class daughters grew up with computers in the home and fast Internet. In inner cities and poor rural areas, such tools for learning and commerce are often out of reach.

Here are videos of rural Southerners asking the government to step in and help folks get broadband.

Net Neutrality

With Net Neutrality threatening to become federal law despite AT&T's frantic opposition and lobbying, it's worth remembering the ex-senator who was one of the main obstacles for years: Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Here was his attempt to explain his opposition to Net Neutrality in 2006...and his explanation put to music.

Comcast, one of the big cable/Internet companies, gets caught pushing public out of a public hearing on Net Neutrality and Internet freedom.

Upstate New York Congressmember Eric Massa resists Time-Warner on two-tiered experiment.

Rightwing libertarians claim Net Neutrality is just one more unneeded law in search of a problem. The media reform group, Free Press, offers this over-the-top video on corporations engaging in web censorhsip and other abuses.

Finally, a leader of the Christian Coalition testifies before Congress (March, 2008)in favor of Net Neutrality.

Another Drudge Exclusive

In 2007, Drudge acccused CNN reporter Michael Ware -- during a news conference in Iraq featuring Sen. McCain and other Congressional Republicans -- of "heckling" two Senators and "laughing and mocking their comments." The report was based on an anonymous "official" who Drudge quoted as saying: "I've never witnessed such disrespect." The claim was picked up by rightwing blogs and the Washington Times. This videotape of the McCain-led news conference -- obtained by indy outlet Raw Story -- shows Ware sitting in the back, not saying anything.

Rupert Speaks on Net Theft, Paywalls, etc

Jean has posted recent interview with media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Is he crazy like a fox, or just out of touch?

"World Exclusive" according to Drudge

If he stuck to just aggregating, and not this kind of "reporting," might the public be better off?

Why didn't liberal bloggers watchdog candidate Obama?

Liberal bloggers exposed outrageous dishonesty in Republican ads aimed at undermining Obama. How hard would it have been for them to also blow the whistle on indefensible Obama campaign ads -- like this one in Spanish smearing McCain as anti-immigrant with comments made by Rush Limbaugh, who generally detested McCain.

When translated, the ad says, "They want us to forget the insults we've put up with, the intolerance" -- as a picture of Limbaugh appears onscreen with quotes OF LIMBAUGH saying, "Mexicans are stupid and unqualified" and "Shut your mouth or get out." The ad continues: "They made us feel marginalized in a country we love so much. John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One that says lies just to get our vote and another, even worse, that continues the failed policies of George Bush."

Here was a McCain Campaign ad and another aimed at Latinos and immigrants that probably got less play than the Obama ad attacking McCain.

Bill Clinton Diatribe Caught on Tabe

Mayhill Fowler openly recorded former President Clinton's angry attack on a Vanity Fair reporter, while he was greeting voters in a rope line as he campaigned for his wife in June 2008. He did not know Fowler was a "citizen journalist" for HuffingtonPost. Should Fowler have identified herself? Should politicians talk to some members of the public -- he assumed Fowler supported his wife -- one way and others a different way? Would Clinton have given his honest views to Fowler if he knew she was a journalist?

They make big $$ on YouTube

What the Buck? Good question. Could Buck really be earning over $100k annually from YouTube videos. With a development deal from HBO?

YouTube star Lisa Donovan or "LisaNova" truly is talented. Here she is playing Sarah Palin in the famous McCain/Palin rap.

Cory Williams and his smpFilms hit the bigtime with "Mean Kitty Song" (over 27 million views!). He claims to be earning over $200k per year, partly from (ugh!) product placements within his videos.

PhillyD is my 12-year-old daughter's favorite YouTube star.

Become a YouTube Star. . .

. . .and appear in a hugely popular music video with Weezer or the earlier one from Barenaked Ladies.

"Where the hell is Matt?" is a helluva success, with his travels ultimately gaining corporate sponsorship.

What if online news gets put behind pay walls?

Arianna Huffington, testifying before a U.S. Senate committee on the future of journalism:

What can't work is to act like the last 15 years never happened, that we are still operating in the old content economy as opposed to the new linked economy, and that the survival of the industry will be found by "protecting" content behind walled gardens. We've seen that movie (and its many sequels, including TimesSelect). News consumers didn't like them, and they closed in a hurry. And the answer can't be content creators attacking Google and other news aggregators.

And here's a vision of the future if Arianna is ignored, "It's 2012 and news is no longer free" -- as summarized by Jean in a blog post.

Devon blogged about efforts by German media companies to collect royalties for posting of it's content.

NY Times Publisher on Future of Journalism

H/t to Jean for her interesting blog post on comments made by NY Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger on young journalists and the what the future holds. On the future of print newspapers, Sulzberger told New York mag:

What was the critical flaw to the Titanic? Even if the Titanic came in safely to New York Harbor, it was still doomed. Twelve years earlier, two brothers invented the airplane.

Good riddance to mainstream media?

Jen L. provides clips to heated Oct. 27 debate on topic.

Big Media Hall of Shame, 2008

2008 contest for worst-behaving, greediest or most freedom-abridging media/telecom corporation, according to video produced by media reform group Free Press.

Three Victims of Web Censorship

Inner City Press, a monitor of Wall St. and the U.N., temporarily delisted from Google News.

Wikileaks.org, which posts documents leaked by whistle-blowers inside repressive countries, institutions or corporations, ordered to be shut down (ineffectively) by a federal judge's order, after complaint from none other than a Cayman Islands bank! The judge removed his order after 10 days.

CommonCause had trouble placing ads on My Space: This is the face of Big Media.

Topnotch Journalist: "Stop going to Journalism Programs"

Interviewed by Time, journalist/author Malcolm ("Tipping Point," "Blink," "Outliers") Gladwell said this when asked to give advice to young journalists:
The issue is not writing. It's what you write about. One of my favorite columnists is Jonathan Weil, who writes for Bloomberg. He broke the Enron story, and he broke it because he's one of the very few mainstream journalists in America who really knows how to read a balance sheet. That means Jonathan Weil will always have a job, and will always be read, and will always have something interesting to say. He's unique. Most accountants don't write articles, and most journalists don't know anything about accounting. Aspiring journalists should stop going to journalism programs and go to some other kind of grad school. If I was studying today, I would go get a master's in statistics, and maybe do a bunch of accounting courses and then write from that perspective. I think that's the way to survive. The role of the generalist is diminishing. Journalism has to get smarter.